REPORT  OF  THE  ARCHITECT 
ON  DESIGNS  SUBMITTED  FOR 
A LINCOLN  MEMORIAL  ON 
THE  MERIDIAN  HILL  SITE 
AND  ON  THE  SOLDIERS’ 
HOME  GROUNDS  SITE 


JOHN  RUSSELL  POPE 


Architect 

527  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Getty  Research  Institute 


https://archive.org/details/reportofarchitecOOpope 


REPORT  OF  THE  ARCHITECT 


ON  DESIGNS  SUBMITTED  FOR 
A LINCOLN  MEMORIAL  ON 
THE  MERIDIAN  HILL  SITE 
AND  ON  THE  SOLDIERS’ 
HOME  GROUNDS  SITE 


A Lincoln  Memorial  Design  for 
The  Soldiers’  Home  Grounds  Site 


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A Lincoln  Memorial  Design  for 
The  Soldiers’  Home  Grounds  Site 

Detail  View  from  South  John  Russell  Pope,  Architect 


A Lincoln  Memorial  Design  for 
The  Soldiers’  Home  Grounds  Site 

John  Russell  Pope,  Architect 


Interior  View 


SITES  — THE  MERIDIAN  HILL  AND 
THE  SOLDIERS’  HOME  GROUNDS 


The  City  of  Washington  has  two  dominating,  ever-present 
vital  features.  They  express  her  purpose  and  our  ideals. 
They  are  carried  in  the  minds  of  all  men  and  are  a constant  edu- 
cational and  moral  factor  among  them.  They  are  the  Dome  of  the 
Capitol  and  the  Monument  to  Washington. 

Elevation  has  always  added  dignity,  grandeur  and  loftiness  of 
purpose  to  beauty;  the  vital  element  in  these  two  monuments  is 
that  they  rise  above  us. 

The  Capitol  is  on  an  elevation  eighty-eight  feet  above  the  Po- 
tomac and  its  dome  begins  its  rise  one-hundred  feet  above. 

The  crest  of  Meridian  Hill  has  an  elevation  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-five  feet,  or  is  approximately  one  hundred  feet  above  the 
Capitol  site. 

The  crest  of  the  hill  on  the  axis  of  North  Capitol  Street  on  the 
Soldiers’  Home  Grounds  has  an  elevation  of  two  hundred  and  ten 
feet,  or  approximately  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  higher  than  the 
site  of  the  Capitol. 

The  possibility  of  a third  dominating  vital  feature  in  Washing- 
ton on  either  of  these  sites  is  indicated  by  these  figures. 

The  Meridian  Hill  site  and  the  Soldiers’  Home  Grounds  site  are 
on  Main  Axes  of  the  City  plan.  They  are  suitably  situated 
for  monuments  of  the  first  order. 

Both  sites  possess  qualities  absolutely  necessary  to  an  unhamp- 
ered expression  of  purpose  in  the  monuments  on  them  by  reason  of 
their  independence  of  surrounding  important  architectural  dictates, 
considerations  or  comparisons. 

The  Meridian  Hill  site  though  restricted  in  area  is  of  sufficient 
size  to  allow  of  suitable  landscape  setting.  Its  elevation  above  its 


surroundings  and  above  the  traffic  of  Sixteenth  Street  overcomes 
any  objection  in  connection  with  these  considerations. 

The  Soldiers’  Home  Grounds  site  possesses  the  grand  qualities  of 
isolation,  of  elevation,  of  unlimited  area  of  beautifully  treed  park- 
ing, and  of  control  of  all  suiroimdings  affecting  it.  It  is  not  too 
remotely  situated  and  is  easy  of  access.  It  is  in  the  author’s  opin- 
ion a location  in  the  biggest,  finest  sense  for  a great  memorial,  and 
the  finest  in  Washington  for  that  purpose. 

The  existence  of  the  City’s  filtration  plant  close  by  is  not  an  ob- 
jection, but  an  advantage;  for  at  a slight  expense  it  can  be  given 
all  the  appearance  of  an  adjoining  park. 

Comment  on  the  associations  of  these  sites  with  Lincoln,  such 
as  the  Meridian  Hill  site  being  on  the  road  to  Gettysburg,  and  the 
Soldiers’  Home  Grounds  site  being  his  summer  home,  is  not  in  the 
sphere  of  this  report. 

A MEMORIAL  TO  LINCOLN 

I take  the  liberty  of  quoting  in  part  the  Hon.  John  Hay’s  re- 
mark on  this  subject: 

“As  I understand  it  the  place  of  honor  is  on  the  main  axis  of 
the  plan.  Lincoln  of  all  men  deserves  this  place  of  honor.  He  was 
of  the  immortals.  You  must  not  approach  too  close  to  the  im- 
mortals. His  monument  should  stand  alone,  remote  from  the  com- 
mon habitations  of  man,  apart  from  the  business  and  turmoil  of 
the  city,  isolated,  distinguished  and  serene.” 

These  are  the  qualities  that  should  obtain  in  a memorial  to 
Abraham  Lincoln.  The  author  of  these  drawings  interprets  these 
sentiments  not  in  the  form  of  a monument,  a tomb,  an  arch  or  any 
form  of  building, — for  these  their  labels  alone  denote  their  pur- 
pose;— but  in  a figure  of  the  man  himself,  alone,  serene,  above  us, 
in  a setting  of  simple  memorial  dignity,  a setting  of  proportions 


sufficient  to  share  the  prominence  of  the  Capitol  dome  and  the 
Washington  Monument,  but  in  which  the  man  is  always  felt. 

THE  MERIDIAN  HILL  SITE  MEMORIAL 

The  design  calls  for  the  purchase  of  land  and  the  razing  of  a 
building  to  the  west  of  Sixteenth  Street.  It  provides  for  a Park 
750  X 1,200  feet  on  the  crest  and  slope  of  the  hill.  It  diverts  Six- 
teenth Street  around  this  Park  and  places  the  Memorial  in  the  cen- 
ter on  the  axis  of  Sixteenth  Street. 

At  the  north  and  south  ends  of  this  Park  are  open  plazas,  the 
width  of  the  Park.  From  these  plazas  rise  steps  one  hundred  feet 
wide  in  terraces  to  a platform  100  x 200  feet  at  an  elevation  of  250 
feet,  or  weU  above  the  columns  of  the  Capitol  dome.  On  this  plat- 
form is  placed  the  figure  of  Lincoln.  Around  the  figure  stands  a 
double  rectangle  of  monumental  sentinel  columns  measuring,  with 
their  entablatures  and  covering,  sixty-four  feet  in  height;  each 
column  measuring  eight  feet  in  diameter  and  forty  feet  in  height. 

THE  SOLDIERS’  HOME  GROUND  SITE  MEMORIAL 

On  the  axis  of  North  Capitol  Street,  on  the  crest  of  the  hill  one 
thousand  feet  from  Michigan  Avenue,  and  approached  from  it  by 
a court  four  hundred  feet  wide,  is  placed  a platform  six  hundred 
feet  square.  This  platform  rises  on  grass  terraces  to  a height  above 
the  adjoining  trees.  The  platform  has  an  elevation  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  feet,  or  is  at  a height  well  above  the  columns  of 
the  Capitol  dome.  In  the  center  of  tliis,  and  slightly  raised  above 
the  terrace,  stands  the  figure  of  Lincoln.  Around  him  stand  mon- 
umental sentinel  columns  in  the  form  of  an  arcade  three  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  and  with  the  entablature  and  attic 
measuring  seventy  feet  in  height. 


In  this  design  as  well  as  the  other,  there  is  no  architectural  fea- 
ture symbolical  of  governmental  or  other  significance  than  that  of 
homage  as  a setting  to  the  figure  of  the  man.  The  architecture  is 
for  this  one  direct  purpose. 

The  design  calls  for  a suitable  dedication  over  the  main  south 
columns— and  provides  a frieze  on  the  inside  of  the  court  around 
the  Lincoln  statue  for  a record  of  his  words. 

TO  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

PIONEER  ORATOR  JURIST  STATESMAN 
PARDONER  RECONCILER  EMANCIPATOR 
LOVER  AND  PROTECTOR  OF  ALL  LIFE 
WHO  THROUGH  THE  BITTERNESS  OF 
WAR  PRESERVED  THE  UNION  AND  WHO 
THROUGH  A MARTYR’S  DEATH  HEALED 
THE  WOUNDS  OF  THE  SWORD  AND 
CEMENTED  IN  LOVE  A REUNITED  PEOPLE 


Respectfully, 


A Lincoln  Memorial  Design 
for  the  Meridian  Hill  Site 


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